Tituss Burgess
| birth_place = Athens, Georgia, U.S. | occupation = Actor, singer | alma mater = University of Georgia (B.A.) | years_active = 2005 – present }} Tituss Burgess (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in numerous Broadway musicals and is known for his high tenor voice. He is best known for starring as Titus Andromedon on the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019), for which he has received four consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nominations. Personal life Born and raised in Athens, Georgia, he attended Cedar Shoals High School where he was active in the theatre program. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a BA in music. He is openly gay. Career Burgess made his Broadway debut in the musical Good Vibrations as Eddie in 2005, and then appeared in Jersey Boys in 2005 as Hal Miller. He originated the role of "Sebastian the Crab" in the musical The Little Mermaid in 2007 and went on to the role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson, traditionally played by a white actor, in the revival of Guys and Dolls in 2009. He has also performed in several regional theater productions, including The Wiz and Jesus Christ Superstar. Burgess performed at the "Broadway for Obama" benefit concert held at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Easton, Pennsylvania on October 20, 2008. He performed at the "Broadway After Dark" benefit concert on October 26, 2008 in New York City. He performed in a solo concert at Birdland in New York City on July 27, 2009. In July 2009, he was a performer on the R Family Vacations Summer Cruise. Three months later, he was featured on an episode of the popular web show The Battery's Down. He appeared in Season 5 of 30 Rock as D'Fwan, a member of Tracy Jordan's wife's entourage. He reprised the role in Season 6. Tituss was cast as The Caterpillar in the 2011 Broadway musical Wonderland (musical) in October 2010. A month later, he dropped out of the project. In March 2013, Burgess performed "And I Am Telling You..." from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising concert Broadway Backwards. Burgess was cast in the role of The Witch, a role traditionally played by a female, in Into the Woods in a 2015 production by DreamCatcher Theatre which performed in Miami's Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center. On March 6, 2015, Netflix released the first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt which stars Burgess in a main role as Titus Andromedon, Kimmy's roommate. Burgess received universal acclaim for his performance, with The New York Times stating that the role was tailor made for him. For his performance in the first season, he received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2015 Critics' Choice Television Awards and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2015 ceremony. In June 2016, Burgess reprised his role of "Sebastian the Crab" during the Hollywood Bowl concert event of The Little Mermaid.LEASE EVENT: Disney's The Little Mermaid in Concert, hollywoodbowl.com; accessed December 1, 2016. Theatre credits Filmography Film Television Video games Discography *''Jersey Boys'' (2005) Original Cast Recording *''Here's To You'' (2006) Studio Album *''Here's To You'' (2006) debut solo album, available on iTunes *''Disney's The Little Mermaid'' (2008) Original Cast Recording *''Keys'' (2008) Scott Alan *''Thirteen Stories Down'' (2010) Jonathan Reid Gealt *''Comfortable'' (2012) Studio Album *''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (2018) Audiobook, Narrator Awards and nominations References External links * * Category:1979 births Category:21st-century American male actors Category:African-American male actors Category:American male musical theatre actors Category:American male stage actors Category:American male television actors Category:American tenors Category:Gay actors Category:Gay musicians Category:LGBT African Americans Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:LGBT singers Category:American male singers Category:LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Living people Category:Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Athens, Georgia Category:University of Georgia alumni